


something so lonesome, so wholesome about you

by Anonymous



Series: innocence dying with your name on its lips [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Age Difference, Flirting, M/M, Sexual Tension, au where kuroo tetsurou has inexplicably never dated anyone until the age of 20, college student kuroo, daichi is also a fussy mother hen because ofc he is, daichi is perhaps a tad more interested in this sassy boy than he should be, kuroo is crushing hard, office worker Daichi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:21:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29159586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Part-time cafe worker Kuroo Tetsurou never expected anything to come of the mild flirtation he had going on with regular patron Sawamura Daichi - sure, he might have a bit of a crush, but it's nothing serious. It's not like he'd been planning to ever actuallydoanything about it.How the fuck had he gone from that to having Sawamura-san offering to sleep with him in a single day?
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Series: innocence dying with your name on its lips [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2142225
Comments: 18
Kudos: 55
Collections: yaela's smut fics!





	something so lonesome, so wholesome about you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ItsAiryBro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsAiryBro/gifts).



> THIS SHIT HAS BEEN IN MY HEAD SINCE FUCKING AUGUST AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> listen i read this ONE fic and fucking. a six part series spawned in my head in the span of 24 hours. why am i like this. (it's now 8 parts hhhhhhhhh i really really hope i work through this at a decent pace)  
> god i cannot express how glad i am that part one at least is out. i'm highly indebted to [nicole](https://twitter.com/hiiiiiiiiiichu) for the thorough and super helpful beta, tysm!!!!
> 
> Airy!!!! this is for u!!!!! i'm late but HBD and pls enjoy!!!!!!!!! 
> 
> warnings: daichi very briefly displays sexual interest in kuroo while he is at his house (for which he later apologizes), and there is a scene where kuroo wonders about daichi possibly being a sexual predator (which he is not). there is NO nonconsensual touch of any sort, but the conversations they have would likely border on verbal harassment irl, though it is consensual and enjoyed by both of them in this fic. if any of this is unsavoury/triggering for you, pls do not read!

Tetsurou hefts his backpack higher, fingers curled tight around the straps, before scrolling through the conversation open on his phone for what feels like the fiftieth time since he stepped out of the lift.

**Sawamura-san (8:14 AM)**

6:00 on Friday evening works fine.

**Me (10:35 AM)**

Great! See you then!

**Sawamura-san (10:45 AM)**

You seem weirdly cheerful, Kuroo-kun. Are you nervous?

It’s okay if you are, you know.

**Me (10:59 AM)**

wtf no I’m not

**Me (1:09 PM)**

. . . maybe a little bit

just

when I said I was didn’t have any experience I wasn’t exaggerating

**Sawamura-san (3:17 PM)**

It’s my job to change that, isn’t it? Don’t worry.

We can go just as slow as you'd like.

**Sawamura-san (3:19 PM)**

Or we can just not do anything, if that’s what you decide then.

Okay?

**Me (3:28 PM)**

yeah. thanks, Sawamura-san :)

**Sawamura-san (3:31 PM)**

:)

You’ll be coming straight from practice?

**Me (3:32 PM)**

yep

**Sawamura-san (3:33 PM)**

So I’m assuming you’ll shower before you come here?

**Me (3:35 PM)**

of course!!!

**Sawamura-san (3:36 PM)**

Just checking, haha. Bring a toothbrush, too.

You can use it at my place, if you’d rather not have teammates asking about it.

**Me (3:37 PM)**

why a toothbrush????

**Sawamura-san (3:38 PM)**

Well, because I’m assuming my tongue is likely to be in your mouth at some point.

Isn’t that the whole point of this?

**Me (3:39 PM)**

oh my god >.<

yes I will bring a toothbrush

you are. very direct about this stuff

**Sawamura-san (3:40 PM)  
**  
Ahaha, does it embarrass you?

**Me (3:40 PM)**

shut up

**Sawamura-san (3:42 PM)**

:3c

Oh, bring an extra pair of underwear, too.

**Me (3:42 PM)**

WTF WHY

**Sawamura-san (3:43 PM)**

You can’t think of any reason you might be glad of a clean set of underwear?

Given why you’re coming over?

**Me (3:43 PM)**

oh my fucking god

I cant fucking believe this

oh my god

_bye_

**Sawamura-san (3:44 PM)**

:D

See you on Friday!  
  
  


_Christ._ Tetsurou bites his lip, one leg bouncing as he stares at Sawamura-san’s front door. _How the fuck did this even happen?_

***

It had started in March - or before that? No, before that, Sawamura-san had been nothing more than another customer who frequented the cafe. A pretty handsome customer, admittedly, but there was no lack of those - hell, half of Sawamura-san’s own colleagues were pretty darn easy on the eyes. He’d usually come by to pick up something to go in the evening before heading back home, or have the occasional lunch meeting with a friend or colleague, and Tetsurou had never done more than note how well the suits he wore seemed to fit him and wonder wistfully if he’d ever be able to pull off a look like that.

And, well - okay, so he might have had a _very_ mild crush (to the often-expressed astonishment of Koutarou, who infinitely preferred Sawamura-san’s most frequent and more chatty companion, Oikawa-san) but it certainly wouldn’t have gone beyond that. He’d never have even gotten past ‘Welcome, can I take your order?’ or ‘Thank you, we hope to see you again!’, would have never had even the briefest of conversations with him, if it hadn’t been for Oikawa-san.

The sakura had just been beginning to bloom on that day in March, and Oikawa-san and Sawamura-san had come in for lunch. It had been a busy afternoon, and Tetsurou had been busy helping Keiji wait tables. He’d set their plates in front of them without paying much attention to the conversation they’d been having, already trying to recall the next table’s order as he’d told them to enjoy their meal.

Oikawa-san had called him back, though, with a raised hand and a pleasant, “Ah, excuse me?”

Tetsurou turned quickly, hoping to hell nothing serious was wrong with their order. “Yes, sir?”

“I wonder if you could settle something for us -” His eyes flickered down to Tetsurou’s chest for an instant. “- Kuroo-kun. Daichi here refuses to listen to reason.”

“For god’s sake, Tooru.” Sawamura-san looked caught between amusement and annoyance. “Don’t drag him into this.”

“Uh, sure, sir.” Tetsurou looked between them, perplexed, tucking his tray under one arm. “What is it?”

Oikawa-san gestured between the two of them. “Which one of us would you say looks better?”

Tetsurou blinked, and blinked again. Sawamura-san groaned, hiding his face with one hand.

“Excuse me?”

“Which one of us looks better?” Oikawa-san gave him a charming smile and the slightest nod in Sawamura-san’s direction. “I just need an unbiased opinion.”

“Uh . . .” Tetsurou looked at Sawamura-san for help, but he only shrugged, as if to say _Just go with it_. So he glanced between them again, considering. Oikawa-san obviously wanted him to say Sawamura-san’s name, but even without that . . . Oikawa-san certainly turned heads when he walked into their store, all long legs and wavy hair, always dressed impeccably and knowing exactly what to say to drag a smile out of even Fukunaga, but Sawamura-san had a certain kind of attraction that was just different, for reasons Tetsurou had never quite been able to decipher. And in that moment Tetsurou had been caught by his rueful smile, had found himself looking at the line of his jaw and set of his shoulders for perhaps a second too long - and had found himself saying, with complete honesty, “Um, Sawamura-san? I guess?”

Sawamura-san looked at him, nothing but surprise in his face, as Oikawa-san laughed. “Thank you very much,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “For answering, and for proving my point.”

“Sorry, Kuroo-kun,” Sawamura-san said, cutting a look at Oikawa-san. “We won’t keep you any longer.”

Tetsurou bowed, an involuntary hint of heat in his cheeks, and retreated as quickly as he could. Not quite quick enough, however, to escape hearing Oikawa-san chuckle, “See? I’m telling you, Yamaguchi’s crush is on you, not me. Looks like the cafe boy’s is, too - ouch, Daichi!”

“What’s up with you?” Koutarou said when Tetsurou reached the counter. “Your face is kinda red, dude! You feeling okay?”

“I’m taking a five minute break,” Tetsurou said, putting his tray down as he willed his blush to subside, as he willed himself to forget how his name had sounded in Sawamura-san’s voice. He’d _never_ said his name before, fuck. “Cover for me, would ya?”

“Sure!”

He’d regained his composure fairly fast, managing to go back and serve them like he normally would. Sawamura-san had shown up on his own on the same evening, though, ordering a couple of pastries and smiling warmly at Tetsurou when he’d handed them over.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry about the bother this afternoon, Kuroo-kun.”

“Not at all, Sawamura-san, it’s fine.”

“Tooru has too much fun embarrassing people,” he sighed, handing over a thousand yen bill. “It was kind of you to say what you did, though.”

Tetsurou darted a look at him before looking down to count out the change. “I didn’t say it to be kind,” he said, before he could think better of it.

Sawamura-san raised an inquiring eyebrow. “Didn’t you?”

“Well, no.” Tetsurou dropped his gaze to his own hand as he handed over the change. “I - I meant it.”

There was silence for a long moment, long enough that Tetsurou forced himself to look up - and encountered an amused gaze, one that made him wince with rising embarrassment.

“I - sorry, I shouldn’t have said -”

“No, not at all, that’s - thank you, Kuroo-kun.” Still that lingering look, something that said _Aren’t you cute_ , like Sawamura-san had gained an advantage Tetsurou hadn’t even realized he’d conceded.

And he suddenly wanted nothing more than to get it back.

“Your colleague has good taste, though,” he said, with a decent attempt at a playful smile. “I don’t blame them.”

Sawamura-san’s eyes went a little wide, and Tetsurou bit back a grin of triumph at the faint colour that showed in his cheeks. “Here you go,” he said sweetly, with a tilt of his head that just bordered on impish as he handed over Sawamura-san’s purchase. “Thank you for visiting, we hope to see you again.”

“Ah, thank you. Oh, and Kuroo-kun?”

“Yes?”

Sawamura-san looked him in the eye and imitated the tilt of his head exactly, his smile like a challenge. “You’re not too bad yourself either, you know.”

And he walked out the door before Tetsurou’s jaw could do more than drop.

So that’s how it had started, their - flirting? Flirting was maybe too strong a word for something so lighthearted, something so clearly just for fun. It couldn’t be anything else, of course - Sawamura Daichi, working professional, couldn’t possibly have any actual interest in Tetsurou, a college student years younger than him, and Tetsurou wasn’t dumb enough to pretend that he did. It was just banter, just teasing, just a little something to make their conversations more lively and see who would back down first. It never lasted much longer than a few sentences, nveer really crossed the boundaries of what was appropriate for cafe worker and customer, and was never apparent to anyone else apart from whomever Sawamura-san might be sitting with - who was most often Oikawa-san, and he only encouraged them, clearly amused by the whole thing. Keiji did notice a couple of times, but he didn’t do anything more than give Tetsurou a disapproving stare.  
  
There really wasn’t any harm in telling Sawamura-san he looked good today, or complimenting him on his cologne, or holding eye contact for a second too long and letting his voice drop a little lower than usual when Sawamura-san paid for what he bought. Sawamura-san might compliment him in return or smile at him more sweetly than he otherwise would, but he usually backed down with a laugh and a shake of his head at whatever nonsense Tetsurou had said to gain the upper hand. The thing was, though . . . this meant that Tetsurou was now actually talking to Sawamura-san, even if it was always fairly brief. It meant that Sawamura-san was now looking at him as _him_ , not just as another cafe employee, and that wasn’t really doing Tetsurou’s attraction to him any favours. It meant that Sawamura-san started to bid Tetsurou goodbye with a wry _Stay out of trouble on your way home_ instead of a conventionally polite _Thank you_ , that he started to give Tetsurou an automatic nod of greeting when their gazes met across the cafe, that he asked Keiji about Tetsurou the one time he had to take a day off because of a fever. It was nothing special, nothing really worth getting excited over - they were still acquaintances at best, and weren’t likely to ever go beyond that - but shit, the last time Tetsurou’d felt like this, he’d been sixteen and nursing a growing infatuation with the captain of his volleyball team.

But hey, it wasn’t the first crush Tetsurou had ever had in his life. It was fine. Sawamura-san was unattainable enough that the occasional daydream about him wasn’t a problem, and all Tetsurou had to do was remember not to let his tongue run away with him when they spoke. Sure, having Sawamura-san trying to fluster him was getting a little harder to counter than before, and seeing him walk into the cafe was starting to make his heartbeat speed up more than it probably should, but it was _fine_. It really was. He was in his final year at college, anyway, he wouldn’t be working at the cafe for more than a matter of months - he’d have to move for graduate school, and Sawamura-san would be nothing more than another past crush he’d get over eventually.

***

Tetsurou had managed to believe that for almost three months - which, looking back, honestly wasn’t that bad. Things probably wouldn’t have ever changed if it hadn’t been for that day in early June, when Tokyo had been hit with the first real rain of the year.

The storm had broken suddenly, creeping up on the city like an animal stalking prey, and the little alley that housed the cafe had flooded so fast that Nekomata-san had had no choice but to close the cafe halfway through the lunch shift. Caught in the panicked bustle of helping customers find a safe way home, racing to get everything shut down and in order, Tetsurou found himself one of the last people to leave, left confronting a dark, grumbling sky and rain that was not so much falling as sheeting down without so much as an umbrella.

He muttered a couple of curses under his breath, annoyed that he hadn't at least carried a raincoat - he was definitely going to get wet through. He still had to leave, though, and the fastest and most direct way to get back to his dorm was on his bicycle. A bus or the subway meant he'd get soaked anyway while walking to either station, both of which were at least ten minutes away. It sucked, but hanging around would do nothing but give the storm time to get worse. So he tied his jacket down over his backpack, praying it would keep the worst of the water from getting to his notebooks before he could make it, and started off into the rain. His clothes got soaked through within a bare minute, and the state of the road as well as the strain of pedalling against the driving wind meant that the twenty-minute journey was almost definitely going to take at least twice as long.

He stopped at an intersection about halfway there, panting and shivering, and pushed his sodden hair out of his eyes. Visibility was dropping faster than he’d expected, and when he’d checked the forecast before leaving the cafe, the storm had only been predicted to get worse. He was absolutely going to catch a cold, and he was going to have to miss volleyball practice, and Coach Naoi was going to flay him for being so stupid -

A dark blue sedan slowed to a stop next to him, honking thrice in loud succession, and Tetsurou turned to see the window rolling down.

“Kuroo-kun?!” Sawamura-san had to shout to make himself heard, leaning over as far as he could. “What the hell are you doing? You can’t cycle in this storm!”

“I have to!” Tetsurou shouted back, wiping his face on his sodden sleeve. “Can’t get back any other way!”

“It’s only going to get worse!” Sawamura-san’s deep frown looked more worried than anything else. “Come to my place - leave your cycle, and I’ll drive you home! You can pick it up later!”

“What - Sawamura-san, it’s really fine, there’s no need to - !”

But the light turned green, and Sawamura-san’s car was already starting to inch forward. “It’s only two streets away, come on!”

Tetsurou could do nothing but follow, squinted to make out the rain-blurred tail lights. They turned into the gate of a modest apartment building within about five minutes, Tetsurou tailing the car into the basement garage. Sawamura-san ducked out of the car the second the engine died, frown still lingering as he came around to where Tetsurou was kicking down his cycle stand. “God, you’re drenched, you must be freezing,” he said, reaching out to take Tetsurou’s backpack. “Here, give me that.”

“Oh - it’s fine, I can -”

“I’ve got it, it’s fine. Come upstairs, you can dry off before I take you home.”

Tetsurou ducked his head gratefully, rainwater still trickling in cold rivulets over almost every inch of his skin. “Thank you so much, Sawamura-san.”

“Not at all.” Sawamura-san started walking over to the lift, gesturing for Tetsurou to follow. “Do you have somewhere urgent to be? Is that why you were trying to get through that rain?”

“Uh, not really, I just - we had to close the cafe after like an hour because of the rain, and I couldn’t hang around forever, so I figured it was better to take my chances before it got worse. My university isn’t very far from here.”

“I see. The cafe owner didn’t offer to help you get back? There wasn’t any friend you could have gone with?”

There was a distinct note of disapproval in his voice, and Tetsurou flushed slightly. “Nekomata-san is an old man, and he doesn’t own a car. And I was on the early shift today, so no, there wasn’t anyone in the same direction I could have caught a ride with.”

Sawamura-san glanced at him as the lift doors opened, the corner of his mouth twitching. “I’m not trying to scold you, kid. Sorry if it came off that way. I was just wondering, because they’re saying that this might turn into a typhoon, and it really wasn’t safe to be exposed like that.”

“Yeah, well.” The lift doors closed with a cheerful chime, and Tetsurou hugged his arms to his stomach, trying to minimize how much water he was dripping on the floor. “This morning they were saying it was going to be a medium shower, so what do they know, anyway?”

“Fair enough,” Sawamura-san chuckled. “You’re at the university nearby?”

“Yeah, I’m in my final year of biochemistry.”

“Oh, nice. Why’d you choose biochemistry?”

“I always liked chemistry in general, and I wanted to work on cell differentiation and ontogeny - uh, organism development as it ages - and there’s a lot of interesting chemical signaling that happens in the process, so. Yeah.”

“That sounds very cool, Kuroo-kun.”

Tetsurou snorted softly. “You don’t gotta pretend to be interested, Sawamura-san -”

“No, I’m not pretending! I quite liked biology in school, and I took a couple of courses in college as well. I don’t remember much about ontogeny apart from - I think they’re called Hox genes? But I remember thinking that was one of the coolest things I’d ever learned about.”

Tetsurou turned to look at him in surprise. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Sawamura-san smiled, “but that’s about the extent of my knowledge, unfortunately.”

“I don’t think half the people I did my molecular biology course with remember what Hox genes are, honestly, so you’ve wildly exceeded my expectations already.”

Sawamura-san chuckled again, softly, and Tetsurou’s pulse jumped at the sound. “I’m flattered. I’d love for you to teach me more, if you’d like -” The lift doors slid open, the glow of the ‘6’ button fading. “ - but let’s get you out of those wet clothes first, hm?”

“Thanks, Sawamura-san, I really appreciate this,” Tetsurou said, trying in vain to stop his treacherous mind from thinking of the other ways _let’s get you out of those wet clothes_ could be taken.

“It’s nothing, Kuroo-kun. I’m glad I could help.” Sawamura-san unlocked the door to his apartment, flicking on the lights as he set Tetsurou’s backpack on the floor. “Let me show you to the bathroom, it’s right through here.”

Sawamura-san had a nice house, Tetsurou noted as he followed him through the living room. The lights were a cheerful yellow, gleaming on a small, glass-topped coffee table with a dark grey sofa and a plush armchair set close by. Beyond the armchair were rain-lashed glass doors that led to a small balcony, and behind it stood a tall, dark bookshelf where books were laid next to coffee mugs and slender creepers spilled from coloured glass bottles. A small painting of what looked like birds in a sky hung on the wall, accompanied by a couple of framed photographs. Tetsurou caught a glimpse of a kitchen range off to the right, separated from the living room by a small dining table, before Sawamura-san turned to the left to open a door.

“Sorry about the mess,” he said, stepping inside the room - his bedroom, Tetsurou realised - to make way for Tetsurou to enter. “The bathroom’s over there. I’ll get you a change of clothes, let me see what I have that might fit you.”

“Thanks,” Tetsurou said, trying not to look around too obviously as he headed to the bathroom door. The bed was nice, pretty big, with pillows askew and dark blue sheets that were tucked in unevenly, like Sawamura-san hadn’t bothered to spend much time making his bed in the morning. There was a neat study desk with a lamp, wifi router, and a couple of messy stacks of files, a wardrobe with a full length mirror set in the door, and a tasteful rug in the middle of the floor, patterned pale blue and yellow. A few more framed photos hung on the walls - a younger Sawamura-san with what looked like his family, a high school class photo, and another high school one of him in gym uniform, with his arms around the shoulders of a couple other boys.

The bathroom was flooded with bright white light when Tetsurou stepped in, the space compact but not cramped - the shower had a couple of empty hangers hooked onto the curtain rod, and the toilet was next to a rather long marble counter with the sink. The mirror was almost as long as the counter, reflecting a couple of bottles each of shaving cream and cologne along with Tetsurou’s disheveled image as he wrinkled his nose at himself. Running a hand through his wet hair did nothing but make it look worse, so he gave up with a sigh and stripped off his shirt to squeeze it out in the sink.

“Kuroo-kun -” There was a soft knock before the bathroom door creaked open, and Sawamura-san paused with it ajar, his eyes only on Tetsurou for a split second before he looked away politely. “Sorry, I realized I forgot to give you a towel. Here.”

“Oh, thank you.” Tetsurou took the towel he was offering, fighting a strong, sudden urge to cross his arms over his chest, warmth creeping into his cheeks.

“You can take a shower if you like, the switch for the water heater is right there. It only takes about two minutes to heat up. I’ll leave clothes for you right outside the door, okay?”

“Sure, thanks!”

Sawamura-san smiled before he withdrew, and Tetsurou made sure to lock the door after him. He caught sight of himself in the mirror as he turned, and he looked flustered even to his own eyes.

“Get it together, Tetsurou,” he muttered to himself, switching the water heater on before starting to shimmy out of his pants.

Standing under the hot shower gave him time to calm down, and by the time he’d stepped out and dried himself off, his frame of mind was almost cheerful. Sawamura-san had left a loose, plain black T-shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and a pair of grey boxers outside the door. Tetsurou hesitated for a second before leaving the boxers where they were - his own were fairly damp, but having to walk around with a cold butt was definitely preferable to the weirdness of wearing Sawamura-san’s boxers. The sweatpants were a couple of inches too short, but he couldn’t do much about that beyond tugging them a little lower than he’d usually wear them. He pulled the shirt on last, and couldn’t quite resist bringing the collar to his nose and breathing in. It smelled faintly of the cologne Sawamura-san usually wore, a warm, woodsy scent that always started little butterflies fluttering in the pit of Tetsurou’s stomach.

 _Okay, don’t be weird_. He shook his head once and bent to pick up his wet clothes, casting a last glance around at the bathroom to make sure everything was clean and in place before he stepped outside.

Sawamura-san was in the kitchen, lifting a kettle off the stove. “I thought you might like a cup of tea before you leave,” he said, over the sound of thunder from outside. “Oh, and I took your books out of your backpack, I hope that’s okay? I thought they should be left out to dry.”

Tetsurou’s notebooks were, in fact, laid out in a neat row on the coffee table, the pages ruffled by the breeze from the ceiling fan.

“Damn, Sawamura-san, you really didn’t have to - thanks, I really appreciate it!”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. It’s a good thing you didn’t have a laptop in there. Oh, let me take your clothes, I’ll throw them in the dryer with your backpack.”

“You really don’t have to run the dryer just for my stuff, it’s really not -”

“Don’t be silly, it’s fine.”

Tetsurou couldn’t help giving him a look somewhere between bemusement and laughter as he handed his clothes over. “You know, I’d never have expected you to be so -”

Sawamura-san paused, looking over his shoulder. “So what?”

“I don’t know, fussy?” Tetsurou shook his head, smiling. “Forget it.”

“Well, what do you expect me to do when a kid like you does something so dumb?” Sawamura-san huffed, almost looking embarrassed. “I might be overstepping, I’m sorry, but -”

“You’re not, you’re not,” Tetsurou laughed. “I really am grateful, Sawamura-san.”

“Brat,” Sawamura-san said, his mouth curving just a little. “Towel your hair properly while I put this in to dry, it’s still damp. You’ll catch a cold.”

“Yessir,” Tetsurou said meekly, and Sawamura-san gave him an amused look as he left. Tetsurou rubbed his hair briskly for half a minute, then laid the towel over the back of a chair and went to the kitchen to pour out the tea, figuring he might as well be of some use. He'd just set out two steaming cups on the dining table and sat down when Sawamura-san came back.

“Oh, thanks, Kuroo-kun.” Sawamura-san sat down, reaching for his own tea to cradle it with both hands. “Is the tea okay?”

“Oh, yeah, absolutely. I really like this brand, actually.” Tetsurou gestured to the suit Sawamura-san was still wearing, pressing his hot cup to one cheek with the other hand. “Don’t you wanna change out of . . .”

“No, it’s fine, I’ll change once I drive you home.”

“Ah, okay. Your company sent you home early because of the rain?”

“Mhmm. I’m surprised your university didn’t do the same.”

“I actually only have morning classes on Fridays, so I usually work the afternoon shift at the cafe until about 2:30 before I go back to campus for volleyball practice. The university did cut classes short at around 1:30, I think, but I was already at the cafe by then.”

Sawamura-san raised both eyebrows. “You’re on the volleyball team?”

“Yep, second string.” Tetsurou smiled a little sheepishly. “But hey, Coach switches me in pretty often, so I can’t complain.”

“You’re a pinch server?”

“And middle blocker.” It was Tetsurou’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “You play, Sawamura-san?”

“I used to,” Sawamura-san grinned, sudden and bright. “In high school, and a bit in college. I loved it.”

“Were you guys any good?” Tetsurou asked, shooting him a teasing look over the rim of his cup.

“I’ll have you know my high school team made it to Nationals when I was the captain.” He was trying to sound stern, but Tetsurou could see the laughter dancing in his eyes. “And _I_ was first string in college.”

“Ouch, what a burn,” Tetsurou laughed. “Do you still play?”

“Sometimes, yeah, there’s a neighbourhood team that gets together here . . .”

Talking about volleyball gradually turned into talking about Tetsurou’s degree, then about Sawamura-san’s job as project manager at an environmental engineering company, then about life in general. He was as easy to talk to as ever, listening attentively when Tetsurou was speaking, easily deflecting his attempts to tease him by doing the same in return, and asking more about him with genuine interest. Tetsurou barely heard the relentless drum of the rain, barely felt the steadily dropping temperature of the cup in his hands - he was so focused on the conversation, so caught up in the slight dimple in Sawamura-san’s right cheek, in the steady cadence of his voice and calm good sense of what he said, in the way he bit his lip when he tried not to laugh at Tetsurou’s silliest jokes and failed.

“Tell me something,” Sawamura-san said after a while, after they’d talked about everything from whether older or younger siblings were more annoying, to the recent performance of the Japan National Team, to the best convenience stores in the area. “Are you dating anyone?”

Tetsurou choked on the last sip of his tea, coughing for a good while before he could sputter, “What - no, why - what -”

Sawamura-san put his chin in one hand, not bothering to hide his smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’ve just been wondering for a while now, because I didn’t think you’d have flirted with me all this time if you had a partner, but I also thought it was pretty unlikely that you wouldn’t be dating someone.”

Surprise at that overpowered any embarrassment Tetsurou might have otherwise felt at the casual reference to their little game, and he gave Sawamura-san a blank look. “What? Why?”

“I mean -” Sawamura-san made a vague gesture in his direction that cleared up absolutely nothing. “You know.”

“No, I don’t know,” Tetsuro said, half laughing. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re attractive, Kuroo-kun,” Sawamura-san said, point-blank, in the same tone he might have used to say _It’s raining outside_. “I’d have probably had a crush on you if we’d gone to college together, to be honest.”

There was nothing to indicate that he was doing anything other than stating what he was genuinely thinking, that there was any other implied meaning or intention. It was certainly nothing close to his flirty tone - which Tetsurou had heard in close proximity almost every time he’d seen him for the last couple months - and yet it was enough to make heat flood his cheeks, enough to make him feel as off-balance and shy as a fifteen year old on a first date.

“That’s -” He had to clear his throat once, twice. “I - I, um -”

Sawamura-san laughed, long and low and easy, his eyes crinkled at the corners. “If I’d known that was all it took to shut you up, I’d have said it weeks ago,” he smiled. “You really don’t have a partner? I’m reasonably sure you have at least five people with hopeless crushes on you.”

And Tetsurou, because he didn’t know what the fuck to say to that and because his composure was still badly shaken, blurted out, “I’ve never even dated anyone!”

Sawamura-san’s eyes went a little wide, and there was a second of silence before he said, “What, seriously?”

Tetsurou hid his face in his hands. “Kill me,” he mumbled. “Oh my god.”

“Hey, no, it’s okay.” There was still a laugh in Sawamura-san’s voice as he gently kicked Tetsurou’s ankle under the table in reassurance. “It’s really okay. There’s no age by which you need to have -”

Tetsurou buried his head in his arms, groaning, and Sawamura-san kicked him a little harder.

“I’m serious!”

“Don’t give me that!” Tetsurou looked up just enough to glare at him. “I’m sure when you were twenty you had a whole ton of experience! Didn’t you?”

Sawamura-san hesitated for a split second, opening his mouth before closing it reluctantly.

“I knew it! I fucking knew it!”

“Okay, not a _ton_ , but I had a boyfriend, and we’d done, uh, most stuff by that time. So I guess . . . “

“I _knew_ it, don’t even talk to me - ”

“I’m sorry,” Sawamura-san laughed, mock pleading. “Aw, Kuroo-kun, don’t be angry with me. It’s not like it’s all that important -” Tetsurou narrowed his eyes, and Sawamura-san held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, I suppose it’s a reasonably important part of life, but it’s not the big deal it’s always made out to be.”

“Yeah, well, I’m probably not going to get that _reasonably important_ experience any time soon, so.”

“Not that you’re required to, but don’t think like that! I’m sure you'll find someone you’d like to date soon enough.”

“Yeah, right,” Tetsurou snorted, dismissive. “You’re seriously overestimating the romantic potential in my life, Sawamura-san, and it's not like anyone's going to sleep with me out of the goodness of their heart. Unless you wanna volunteer?”

His eyes met Sawamura-san’s across the table, who didn't reply, looking startled, and his mouth went dry as he realized exactly what he’d said. Burning, burning embarrassment finally drove Tetsurou to break the lengthening silence, stumbling over the words as he hastily said, “Sorry, that was weird, I don’t know what I was - I didn't mean -”

“Didn’t you?”

Sawamura-san’s gaze was considering, now, looking at Tetsurou like a connoisseur evaluating a piece of art, and Tetsurou couldn’t look away, pinned by those dark eyes as helplessly as a butterfly to corkboard.

“It was - it was just a joke,” he stammered, barely able to hear himself over the relentless drum of rain of the windows.

“I know.” Sawamura-san’s eyes went to Tetsurou’s mouth, his neck, his chest, then leisurely moved up again. Tetsurou could feel the drag of his gaze on his skin like something physical, could feel it stoke heat in the pit of his stomach that was entirely different from the one flaring in his cheeks. “But did you mean it?”

The measured weight of those few words, said with such deliberation, murmured in Sawamura-san’s unbearably deep voice as he looked at Tetsurou across the table with something dangerously close to desire - fuck, there was suddenly more sexual tension between them in this ordinary little kitchen than Tetsurou had _ever_ seen in any book, any movie, any porno. For a single, fleeting moment, he was tempted to say _yes_. Yes, he meant it, yes, he wanted Sawamura-san to teach him - touch him - wanted those hands on his skin, that voice in his ear, that mouth on his own, wanted -

“No, of course I didn’t!” It came out too loud, too heated. Lightning flashed beyond the windows, burnishing Sawamura-san’s skin bright before Tetsurou tore his gaze away from him, looking down at the table instead. “Of course I didn’t. It was - it was really just a joke.”

Thunder rumbled outside, loud but not loud enough to drown out the sound of his pulse racing in his ears. Sawamura-san shook his head slightly, like someone letting go of a fading dream. “Yes, of course,” he said, quite calmly, his smile just a little strained. “Let me - let me just go and see if your clothes are dry, and I can take you home, yeah?”

“Oh - yes -” Tetsurou stood up at the same time he did, the scrape of their chairs over the floor gratingly loud. “Um, the cup - should I wash -”

“Ah, no, just leave it in the sink. I’ll be back in a minute -”

“Sure! Sure, I’ll just - get my books -”

Tetsurou hurried to the living room, too distracted to notice that his notebooks were still damp as he gathered them up. Sawamura-san came back with his stuff, he changed into his own clothes and put his books in his backpack, and it wasn’t long before they were getting into the car in constrained silence. Sawamura-san didn’t seem to know what to say, and Tetsurou certainly didn’t have a clue either, and so they both remained quiet as they drove onto the road.

Tetsurou looked out of the window, staring unseeingly at the rain pouring down the glass, still unable to stop thinking about that moment. _Didn’t you?_ Sawamura-san had said, entirely serious, and why would he have done that? Why would he have looked at Tetsurou like that when he said it, without a hint of that indulgent twinkle Tetsurou had seen for the past three months? Surely he couldn’t have been thinking - he couldn’t actually have been considering -

 _He couldn’t have really wanted me_ , Tetsurou thought, at once desperate to believe it and desperate not to. _But what else could that have meant? Why else would he have asked something like that, and not even tried to turn it into a joke?_

He didn’t really know all that much about Sawamura-san, now that he thought about it. He knew that he was several years older than Tetsurou, old enough at least to have been working for a few years, and that he was kind, and considerate, and thoughtful, with an air of quiet confidence and a surprisingly sharp tongue when Tetsurou teased him too much. He knew that he rather liked being challenged, and that he liked his coffee a little bitter; that he always had a smile and a thank you for whoever served him at the cafe; and that he was strong-willed and capable enough to run his own team at his job and to keep the irrepressible Oikawa-san in line. He knew that he used to be captain of his volleyball team in school, that he played wing spiker, and that he grew up in Miyagi before he came to Tokyo.

And that was about it. Half of this was what he’d learned today, and if Tetsurou was being completely honest with himself, it probably wasn’t enough to place a lot of trust in his character. People lied all the time, and though it was easy to forget, Sawamura-san was practically a stranger - one significantly older than him, too - and the fact that Tetsurou found him attractive should have been even more warning against letting himself trust too easily. Sure, Sawamura-san had never gone beyond the mildest of flirting until today, and he’d never made any attempt to get closer to Tetsurou than a familiar customer should, but was that enough proof that he was a decent person? Had today just been an honest slip, a sign that he was attracted to Tetsurou he’d never meant to show, or had it been calculated? Tetsurou could hardly believe that of him, didn’t _want_ to believe that of him, but still, he couldn’t be sure. There were enough unsavoury characters in Tokyo only too ready to prey on high school and college students, and if Sawamura-san turned out to be one of them - god, the betrayal would hurt worse than whatever he might actually do -

“This is it, right?”

Tetsurou looked around with a start, realizing they were at the university gates. “Shit, yeah - yeah, this is it. Thanks, Sawamura-san.”

“My pleasure, Kuroo-kun. Get back safe, okay? Don’t catch a cold.”

“I won’t,” Tetsurou said, giving him a quick smile as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “You get back safe, too.”

“Thanks, I will. Oh, and -”

Tetsurou paused with one strap of his backpack pulled over his shoulder, one hand on the door handle. “Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say - I really am sorry about before.” Sawamura-san’s smile was disarmingly rueful. “I shouldn’t have said that, and I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s - it’s fine. I was just surprised, I guess.”

Sawamura-san looked at him for a moment, seemingly gauging his expression, before bowing his head slightly in apology. “I just want you to know - you don’t have to worry about hearing anything like that from me again, okay?”

Tetsurou looked at him, at his frank, steady eyes, at how he looked with his hands still on the steering wheel and his tie a little askew, handsome even when washed out by the grey light filtering through the windshield - and said, “What if - what if I _had_ meant it?”

It was out before he realized, the words leaving his lips without his permission. Sawamura-san blinked, like he hadn’t quite heard correctly, and then his gaze focused, sharpened, his brows drawing just a little together as he looked at Tetsurou.

“If you’d meant it,” he said, slow and very even, “then I would have said that I'd be willing to teach you whatever you wanted to know.”

“Why?” Once more said before he could think the better of it, coming out as almost a whisper.

“Because you’re a smart and attractive young man, and I enjoy your company. And because - because I would also enjoy, um. Teaching you. Not that it’s - not that it would be about what I want at all, it would be a - a completely casual thing, you could stop it any time you liked, it wouldn’t be - you wouldn’t have to do anything you didn’t want -”

And that was really all it took to convince Tetsurou. Not anything Sawamura-san was actually saying, but the pale pink staining his cheeks, the clumsiness of his reassurance, the nervous drum of his fingers on the steering wheel. Surely a predator would be much more composed, much more natural, much more convincing - and Tetsurou wasn’t a child, he was twenty and an athlete, in better shape and taller than Sawamura-san, certainly capable of protecting himself if he had to.

And, well. The fact that he had an overwhelming urge to kiss Sawamura-san’s blush away was perhaps a factor, but that was besides the point.

“Can I have your phone?” he said, cutting off Sawamura-san, who looked surprised before he fished his phone out, unlocked it, and handed it over. Tetsurou typed in his number and saved it, giving it back with a flash of a nervous smile.

“I did mean it,” he said, not quite able to meet his eyes. “So. You could, um, text me? If - if you don’t change your mind. Which would be totally fine, I mean, I don’t want to push -”

“I’ll text you tonight, Kuroo-kun.” Sawamura-san was smiling, a soft look in his eyes that Tetsurou had never seen before.

“Cool. I’ll - I’ll see you, then.” Tetsurou ducked his head quickly as he pushed the door open. “Thanks again for everything!”

He was out of the car and hurrying through the rain before Sawamura-san could reply, not daring to believe his own audacity, and couldn't stop grinning with incredulous delight all the way to his room.

***

It’s been close to ten minutes since he’s arrived, and Tetsurou still hasn’t been able to bring himself to ring the doorbell. _Get it together,_ he tells himself sternly, tugging restlessly at the collar of his shirt. _What was the point of all this if you’re going to chicken out now? You want this, right? So just fucking do it!_

He raises his hand, drops it, takes a long, shaky breath, and raises it again, pressing the doorbell. He lets it go too fast, the chime cutting off halfway, and in the sudden silence Tetsurou thinks of twenty different things that could go wrong. Shit, he shouldn’t have done this, this wasn’t going to work, what had he been _thinking_ -

Sawamura-san opens the door, smiling warmly. “Hey, Kuroo-kun. Come on in.”

He’s wearing casual clothes, the first time Tetsurou has ever seen him in anything other than a suit, and it takes him a second before he can actually step inside, hastily saying, “Hi, Sawamura-san. Sorry I’m a bit late -”

“No, not at all. You look good, by the way.”

“Oh -” It’s not even been ten seconds and he’s already blushing, fuck. “Uh, thank you.”

“Ah, I forgot to say, before - you can just call me Daichi, if you like. ‘Sawamura-san’ is perhaps a little too formal now, don’t you think?”

Tetsurou looks up from setting his shoes to the side, his smile a little shy despite himself. “Call me Tetsurou, then.”

“Got it.” Sawamura-san - Daichi-san gestures inside. “Do you want to talk for a bit? I think there’s a couple of things we should agree on beforehand, and I’ve got that tea you like steeping.”

“Ah, yeah, of course.”

“Come and sit down, then.” Daichi-san smiles over his shoulder as he leads Tetsurou inside. “And let's figure this out.”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> tysm for reading! let me know what you thought, criticism or feedback is always super appreciated. you can check out the series description for a better idea of how it will progress, and you can find me [here](https://yaelathewordsmith.tumblr.com/) on tumblr and [here](https://twitter.com/writer_yaela) on twitter just to chat or for commission info!


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